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tv   Jansing and Co.  MSNBC  March 23, 2012 10:00am-11:00am EDT

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is somebody with a background in politics or finance. what else can you tell us, mike? >> reporter: well, this is an interesting choice and sort of a surprise choice. let's go through the resume of mr. kim. born in seoul, korea, 1959. a resume that makes the rest of us look pretty bad, frankly, chris. he's an anthropologist, a physician, president of dartmouth university, worked for the world health organization, aids programs in africa. so a very interesting backgro d background, to be sure. the united states always gets to name or nominate the president of the world bank, and it usually goes through -- this has to be voted on by the board of the world bank. but this time, there has been some pushback from a lot of developing countries. some countries in south america, wanting someone other than a u.s. citizen to head the world bank. today is actually the deadline, chris. and the president coming up today with sort of a surprise choice. previously, there had been diplomats, people who had worked in government, who understood the bureaucracy both here in the united states and internationally. bob zoellick who had served in
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republican administration is the outgoing president of the world bank. so the president coming forward today with sort of an unconventional choice. we'll see what the reaction is amongst some of those developing countries, chris. >> all right, mike. thank you very much. right now there's another protest going on as people march to florida's capitol to demand justice for travon martin. last night thousands gathered calling for an arrest. sheer numbers calling out about an unnamed teenager's death caused cries across the country. things are happening with the case. the police chief has stepped down temporarily, admitting his presence was a distraction. florida's governor has appointed a new prosecutor, and a task force has been formed to review the controversial stand your ground law. >> since the chief has stepped down, it's a temporary relief, but we need a permanent relief. i still say we need our arrest. >> we came for permanent justice!
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arrest zimmerman now! >> joining me now is joanne reed, managing editor of the agree owe.com and zachary carter for the eastern district of new york. good morning to both of you. joanne, let me start with you. does it seem all of a sudden like things are happening? is this because of public pressure? >> oh, definitely, chris. i think the public pressure, the international, you know, sort of take that this case has taken on, it's really become a story that's gone global. and i think because of the social media, it's been able to spread. and just because of -- i mean, literally yesterday when we were talking to people walking through the crowd, most of the people we talked to were not from here. we talked to people from memo miss, people from orlando. people actually traveled down. the streams and streams of people coming to sanford because of their passion for this story. so i think that pressure definitely influenced the -- bill lee, the police chief, to step down. and we'll see if anything else comes of it. >> amazing how this has taken
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hold. zachary, there is a new state attorney who is going to prosecute this. and we have talked to a lot of legal experts who say the stand your ground law makes this a tough prosecution. what do you think going forward? >> i think the stand your ground law has nothing to do with this prosecution. even under the stand your ground law, whether you agree with the wisdom of that law or not, it would not authorize zimmerman to take any action under the circumstances that we know about, based on the 9/11 tapes. the stand your ground law commits you to do just that. when you are somewhere you are lawfully entitled to be, you are entitled to stand your ground in the face of a challenge to your right to be there. you are not required to retreat. but the 9/11 tapes make it clear that he was not in a position of being advanced upon. he was the person who was doing the pursuing. and therefore, the law is absolutely irrelevant. >> so could the appointment of this new prosecutor be significant? >> the appointment of the prosecutor is significant because now you have someone who
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is not part of that local culture, who is hopefully taking an arms'-length, objective, fresh look at the evidence that's available, including the 9/11 tapes, all available witnesses, whatever forensic evidence can be developed, and making a reasoned, detached judgment based solely on the facts. >> and joanne, the naming of that prosecutor and the police chief temporarily stepping down, what's been the reaction there? >> well, actually, chris, the reaction has been it's not enough. we heard that at the rally and also hearing it from local citizens. what will be enough here will be the arrest of george zimmerman and for the police chief to permanently step down. when he included that word, "temporarily," i think that it just really inflamed people down here more. they feel like closure would be number one, an investigation of the police investigation. and looking at the police force and their conduct. number two, having lee step down permanently. and number three, having george zimmerman behind bars. >> let me bring in jeff
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bernside, a reporter down there. and jeff, you were also at that rally last night. tell us about your perceptions. what was it like? >> well, it was a group of people, young, old, black, white, hispanic, that came together really in a unifying notion of a sense of injustice, that a section of society they believe is just too quick to judge young, black males. and that was the unifying theme. travon was emblazoneded on t-shirts, signs all over the place. it was an emotional evening. really built up to a crescendo. they started gathering hours and hours beforehand. we have put together just a sampling of some of the feelings and opinions that were prevalent in the crowd that night. take a listen. >> there is huge numbers to show that we all care. i have an 18-year-old son. this could be my son. >> they're not protecting our children. our children is our future. >> we need to let people know that you don't just kill
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someone, say you felt threatened and walk away. it's not okay. >> the sheer numbers of that it rally last night is what is sending this message. that was reverend al sharpton's goal, to get enough people so those pictures that are spread all over the world now sends the message that these people will not stand for anything short of justice. what they believe is justice. in fact, right now it's spawning even more allies. we have some video out of miami three hours to the south here of high schools in that area just having a random walkouts in honor of trayvon. happened yesterday, as well. there are nor more rallies expected. in fact, references on stage of rallies in london and paris. so this has taken on a life of its own, chris. and we'll see more as the days and weeks come down the pike. >> jeff burnside, a reporter for wtvj, thank you very much. and there is also a lot of talk about george zimmerman, who is
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the shooter. what's the conversation like there about this? and joy ann, does anybody know where he is? what's the situation there? >> well, yeah, chris, that's the other thing. no one seems to know where george zimmerman is. he is in hiding. his family has said he has faced death threats and that's why he is not coming forward. and just the mystery surrounding him. you know, was he someone who was trying to be a police officer? was he someone who maybe failed to achieve that? you know, he has been asked by the community college that he was attending not to return, because of the controversy. so he is really also an unknown factor. and i think that's just fueling people's anger, and the police really don't seem to be changing their opinion on this. they're very dug in on the idea that he was the victim and that their investigation was correct. but there's still a lot of questions there. >> all right, joanne reed, thank you very much for being here with us. i want to go now to the white house. the president announcing the new head of the world bank. let's listen. >> when he told me about his plans, i immediately began to search for someone to fill his
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shoes. now, despite its name, the world bank is more than just a bank. it's one of the most powerful tools we have to reduce poverty, and raise standards of living in some of the poorest countries on the planet. and in a world that is growing smaller and more connected every day, that's a critical mission. not just for those who are struggling, but for all of us. when we reduce hunger in the world or help a farmer recover from a flood, or a drought, it strengthens the entire world economy. when we put an end to a preventible disease, all of us are safer because of it. when an entrepreneur can start a new business, it creates jobs in their country, but also opens up you new markets for our country. and ultimately, when the nation goes from poverty to prosperity, it makes the world stronger and more secure for everybody. that's why the world bank is so important. and that's why the leader of the world bank should have a deep understanding of both the role
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that development plays in the world and the importance of creating conditions where assistance is no longer needed. i believe that nobody is more qualified to carry out that mission than dr. jim kim. it's time for a development professional to lead the world's largest development agency. and that's why today after a careful and thorough search, i'm nominating dr. jim kim to be the next president of the world bank. jim has spent more than two decades working to improve conditions in developing countries around the world. as a physician and an anthropologist, he co founded partners in health and led a world health organization campaign to treat 3 million patients with hiv/aids. i've made hiv/aids and the fight against that dreaded disease and the promotion of public health a corner stone, building on the outstanding work done by president bush. we pursue these efforts around the globe, because it's the
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right thing to do. and also because healthy populations enable growth and prosperity. and i'm pleased that jim brings this particular experience with him to his new job. jim was also the chair of the department of global health and social medicine at harvard medical school. he's earned a mccarthur genius fellowship and served as president of dartmouth college. i should also mention, after emgrate to go this country from korea at age 5, jim went on to become the president of his high school class, quarterback of the football team, the point guard of the basketball team. i just found out he is a 5 handicap in golf. i'm a little resentful about that last item. but he does it all. jim has truly global experience. he's worked from asia to africa to the americas, from capitals to small villages. his personal story exemplifies the great diversity of our country and the fact that anyone can make it as far as he has as long as they're willing to work
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hard and look out for others. and as experience makes him ideally suited to forge partnerships all around the world. so i could not be more pleased to nominate jim for this job. and i think i can speak for secretary clinton and secretary geithner when i say that we are looking forward to working with him. and i also want to take a minute to thank bob zoellick once again for all of his hard work. over the last five years, bob has made the bank more transparent, he has helped shore up progress made in places like afghanistan, he has raised billions of dollars to help some of the world's poorest communities. jim is the right person to carry on that legacy. and i know his unique set of skills and years of experience will serve him well. so i'm grateful to him for his willingness to serve. i do not think that the world bank could have a better leader. so thank you. >> thank you. thank you, sir. >> you're going to do great. thank you. >> mr. president, may i ask you about this current case in florida, very controversial
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allegations of listenering racism within our society of the so-called stand your ground law and the justice in that. can you comment on the travon martin case, sir? >> well, i'm the head of the executive branch. and the attorney general reports to me. so i've got to be careful about my statements to make sure that we're not impairing any investigation that's taking place right now. but obviously, this is a tragedy. i can only imagine what these parents are going through. and when i think about this boy, i think about my own kids. and you know, i think every parent in america should be able to understand why it is absolutely imperative that we
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investigate every aspect of this. and that everybody pulls together, federal, state and local, to figure out exactly how this tragedy happened. so i'm glad that not only is the justice department looking into it, i understand now that the governor of the state of florida has formed a task force to investigate what is taking place. i think all of us have to do some soul searching to figure out how does something like this happen. and that means that we examine the laws and the context for what happened. as well as the specifics of the incident. but my main message is to the parents of trayvon martin. you know, if i had a son, he would look like trayvon. and, you know, i think they are right to expect that all of us
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as americans are going to take this with the seriousness it deserves and that we're going to get to the bottom of exactly what happened. all right. thank you. >> and so the president in naming the new head of the world bank makes his first comments on that controversy that has really swept across not just america, but as we heard from joy ann reed, is getting international attention. and that is the shooting of young trayvon martin. and he said, if i had had a son, he would look like trayvon. he, of course, sent his sympathies to the family and said he could only imagine what they're going through. of course, the father of two daughters. but he said i think everyone in america could understand that it's important we investigate every aspect of this case. so we can figure out how this tragedy can happen. and something else he said. all of us can do some soul searching. let's go to the person who asked that question. if it i heard the voice correct,
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nbc's mike vickera, first time we heard from the president on this. >> reporter: i was watching along with the rest of you. the president speaking in remarkably personal terms, invoking not only his own daughters as he often does when young people are involved in very controversial or unfortunate cases, but saying that if he had a son, it would look like trayvon. not wading into the particular legal matter on the stand your ground law, and the larger questions of lingering racism in our society that was embedded in the question that i put to the president. but certainly, the president was willing if not eager to talk about this case, and express his sympathies. and, again, speak in remarkably personal terms, chris. >> yeah, and i thought spoke longer than we might have expected. there is a line that he expressed opening up that he doesn't want to cross. this is a matter for the justice department, and they are handling it. but as you said, i did get the
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sense, as i think you did, that he did want to say something about this. >> and because it is such a significant case, it struck such a deep chord within society, because people are literally in the streets every day and every night in major cities across this country, i think it's something that the president felt was appropriate, and timely for him to comment on, chris. >> yeah, thank you so much, mike viqueria, and to reiterate if you joined us late, we're talking about the rally held last night, headed by reverend al sharpton. and one of the remarkable things about it, these are not just people from that area in florida. she talked to so many people from so many different states who felt compelled to come to sanford, in addition to which the reporter from wtvj talking about them being young and old, black and white, and hispanic, men and women. and so this really is a case
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that has touched a chord. and for the first time we heard from the president of the united states. states. and we'll be right back. [ male announcer ] this is the network --
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a day before the louisiana primary, two more conservative leaders are urging republicans to fall in line and by implication, get behind mitt romney. after romney made the rounds on capitol hill, tea party senator jim demint who stopped just short of an endorsement said this. quote, what i can tell conservatives from my perspective, i'm not only comfortable with romney, i'm excited about the possibility of him possibly becoming our nominee. i think we all need to look at the presidential primary and encourage the candidates to do a little self reflection here. what's good for our country. and then here's former presidential candidate michele
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bachmann this morning. >> there's a lot of fatigue among our party. they're tired of this. they feel like the vetting is happening, and they want us to kind of batten down the hatches and make the decision. >> i'm joined by matt miller, host of left, right and center, and "usa" politics reporter jackie kucinich. matters like nonendorsement endorsements? what are those? >> it's part of the whole co lessens that started with jeb bush yesterday, where the establishment is trying to signal it's time to wrap this up. they know santorum doesn't have a chance, they know romney is going to be the party's nominee. and the longer it drags out, the worse it is for the party as it looks toward the fall. >> there's one thing to signal it, though, jackie and another thing to do it. why not just come out and say, i endorse mitt romney? >> you know, it has been interesting to see these -- i mean, when you look at the jeb bush announcement, it wasn't a big fanfare. there wasn't, you know, an event that he came out and endorsed him. it was kind of chi quiet.
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it was a statement. and jim demint's half hearted endorsement, not really endorsement that he did, it was interesting. it's like they don't want to anger -- i think demint has a fine line to walk because he's this tea party senator. so i don't think they want to upset anybody, but they do want this over. i think they're over it. >> and i'll tell you, we don't seem to be over the etch-a-sketch saga. that was, of course, for people who don't know, an aide to mitt romney sort of unintentional implication that romney is a flip-flopper. and rick santorum's reaction to that is causing controversy. take a look. >> we might as well stay with what we have instead of taking a risk of what may be the etch-a-sketch candidate for the future. >> there is no doubt in my mind that if the choice is governor romney or barack obama, we would have no choice. barack obama's re-election will be a disaster for the united states, and we have an obligation -- >> do you wonder, matt, if this kind of a back and forth kind of
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might push these weary republican voters to just want it all over with? >> well, i do think that etch-a-sketch thing does -- it's one of those symbols that explode, especially in our 24-hour news cycle these days that kind of define a campaign. i think that will stick with romney. >> you do? >> i do think it will stick with romney, because obama is going to make sure in the fall if romney is the man that we hear all about the flip flops, there will be repeats of the kind of wind surfing kind of ads we saw back a few years ago. so i think this stuff will stick. >> but i wonder if it will make a difference. you also have the louisiana primary tomorrow, jackie, most polls show santorum as a comfortable lead. but if he wins, does that change anything? >> i don't know that it does. you know, if -- louisiana rules. if a candidate gets more than -- they award delegates proporti proportional proportionally. if a candidate gets 25% or more. so he could only end up with a couple delegates. we're only talking about 20 delegates that are going to be awarded saturday. so from a math perspective, no, it really doesn't change anything. and since there is this
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expectation that santorum is going to win louisiana anyway, i don't know that a big win for him there -- unless it's really, really big, even then, i don't think it changes anything at this point. >> all right, jackie, matt, thanks to both of you. and you can catch matt later this afternoon, 4:00 eastern time, when he guests hosts "the dylan ratigan show" right here on msnbc. and the romney campaign's etch-a-sketch gaffe has been a boon to the company that makes the classic toy. the stock price of ohio art nearly tripled the day after those comments. sales have been surging on amazon. [ chanting ] a tiny cable company serving subscribers across six states. he continues to buy small rural systems that the mainly cable companies have abandoned, upgraded them to broadband to boost profits. for more, watch "your business" sunday mornings at 7:30 on
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federal law should make that a crime. sean payton was just suspended for all of next system season because of that system. and president obama wouldn't let a heckler get the best of him during his energy speech yesterday. take a listen. >> sir, i'm here to speak to these folks. you can hold your own rally. [ cheers and applause ] you're being rude. show me some courtesy. i'll be happy to take your book. but don't interrupt everybody else. >> that was yesterday. today for the first time in very personal terms, the president making comments about trayvon martin, 27 days after that teenager was shot and killed in florida. much more on that coming up. [ tom ] we invented the turbine business right here in schenectady. without the stuff that we make here,
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being held. and john, in addition to murder, what else is sergeant bales expected to be charged with? >> reporter: well, we've been told by military officials that in addition to 17 charges of murder, there will be six charges of attempted murder. so this is the first time we're learning that there were other people wounded but survived in this shooting rampage. and we're also being told that at least one of those wounded, one of those six people he's accused of attempted murder, is in very serious condition, and so the murder count, the charges could rise. now, military justice officials or experts, rather, tell me we are unlikely to hear today whether or not the military is going to seek the death penalty. that's going to come later in after what's called an article 32 hearing. an article 32 investigation, essentially a preliminary hearing, a probable cause hearing, where both sides will present evidence. after that, the presiding
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officer will make a recommendation as to exactly what charges bales should face and whether or not they would carry the death penalty. now, there are only six people here at ft. leavenworth on death row, and the last execution was in 1961. so it is not a blood-thirsty justice system in the military. chris? >> all right, john, thank you so much. whitney houston's official cause of death, drowning. but toxicology tests also showed there were multiple drugs in her system. nbc's craig melvin is outside the beverly hilton hotel where houston died. what more can you tell us about the coroner's report? >> reporter: chris, good morning to you. as you mentioned, a number of drugs found in houston's body. let's go down the list. first of all here, marijuana found in her system. also, flexeril, a muscle relaxer was found in her system. xanax, the anti-anxiety medicine found in her system, as well. along with a cocaine -- there
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was benadryl and allergy medicine. the coroner said yesterday, all of those drugs found in her system were essentially trace amounts, that none of those drugs contributed significantly to her death. what contributed to her death, the cocaine and also a heart condition. the coroner said the 48-year-old's arteriees were 60% blocked. when she went down in the bathtub, when she went under water, she was alive. there was some sort of a cardiac event. she was never able to recover. there was a report that was swirling about yesterday, as well. there were no illegal drugs found in the hotel room. there was a report yesterday that came out that said someone removed the cocaine from the room, from the hotel room last month, and that same person was also supplying whitney houston with the drugs. i talked to a spokesperson with the beverly hills police department, that spokesperson would not confirm or deny that report. but did tell me that the police investigation was still open and active, chris. >> thank you so much, craig melvin. for the first time, just a
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short time ago, president obama discussed the trayvon martin case. nbc's mike vickera asked him about the controversial shoot of an unarmed black 17-year-old in florida after his event nominating a new world bank president. >> i'm the head of the executive branch, and the attorney general reports to me. so i've got to be careful about my statements to make sure we're not impairing any investigation that's taking place right now. but obviously, this is a tragedy. i can only imagine what these parents are going through. and when i think about this boy, i think about my own kids. and you know, i think every parent in america should be able to understand why it is absolutely imper active that we
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investigate every aspect of this. and that everybody pulls together, federal, state and local, to figure out exactly how this tragedy happened. so i'm glad that not only is the justice department looking into it. i understand now that the governor of the state of florida has formed a task force to investigate what is taking place. i think all of us have to do some soul-searching to figure out how does something like this happen. and that means that we examine the laws and the context for what happened. as well as the specifics of the incident. but my main message is to the parents of trayvon martin. you know, if i had a son, he would look like trayvon. and you know, i think they are right to expect that all of us
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as americans are going to take this with the seriousness it deserves and that we're going to get to the bottom of exactly what happened. >> and so the president for a minute and 54 seconds talking for the first time about the trayvon martin case. let me bring in joy ann reed, managing editor of the grio.com. i don't know what struck you, but when he said if i had a son, he would look like trayvon, you not only felt that he got it, but you thought the next sentence could be, i know what it is like to have been that teenager. >> yeah, absolutely. and i think that, you know, this is one of those instances where the president, you know, not just as the leader of the country, and as a father, as a apparently, but also as a black man, has a unique understanding, really, of what these parents are feeling. because, you know, this is something that a lot of african-american parents, especially parents of young boys, and i myself am a parent of a young boy, really get this on a gut level.
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that that fear of your son being out there in the world and being suspected and being sort of treated like a suspect. and, you know, probably barack obama at some point in his life has been that guy, you know, couldn't get a cab or was sort of looked at in a store. and he sort of understands that on a granular level. now, as a matter of federalism, it would have been highly inappropriate, let's say, for him to telephone the family of this young man, because it would have been him as president of the united states taking sides against george zimmerman, who however he is being vilified right now, has not been charged with a crime. that would have been inappropriate. and i think people had wanted to hear from the president, but it was difficult for him to inject himself into this. but i think today he really spoke to the emotional side of it and i think also to the pragmatic side of what he can say and do as president. >> and one of the things he did say, we need to examine the laws and the context in which this did happen, and bring us up to date on where you think we're going next. we were talking earlier about this new prosecutor that's been appointed. that the police chief has
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stepped down. where does this go from here, joy ann? >> reporter: well, i think as far as the law is concerned, a lot of people in florida are defending the law and saying, look, this was not a case of stand your ground. really, if anything, trayvon martin was the within u one to stand his ground. i don't see florida walking away from the law, maybe tweaking and reexamining the application of it. i think as far as chief lee, i don't see how he hangs on. the calls for him to go permanently are really increasing. him saying that he was stepping aside temporarily has not eased that at all. and i think that nothing short of the arrest of mr. zimmerman would satisfy people here. but that is going to have to wait. because the police department is not going to change their mind. the grand jury, which is going to convene on april 10th is going to have it in their court. so i think the investigations have eased some of the tension. but i don't think they're going to slow the advocacy at all. >> joy ann reid, good to see you again. thank you so much. really appreciate it. >> reporter: thank you. republicans are out in force to slam the president's health
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care plan today ahead of next week's big supreme court showdown. why florida congressman ted deutsche says not so fast. he's up next. il. now washington, they're looking at shutting down post offices coast to coast. closing plants is not the answer. they want to cut 100,000 jobs. it's gonna cost us more, and the service is gonna be less. we could lose clientele because of increased mailing times. the ripple effect is going to be devastating. congress created the problem. and if our legislators get on the ball, they can make the right decisions.
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devry university, proud to support the education of our u.s. olympic team. good morning, i'm thomas roberts. on the agenda today, president obama speaks out on the trayvon martin case and the stereotypes of race. the president says, if i had a son, he would look like trayvon. meanwhile, trayvon's parents lead the florida rally and cry as thousands march on tal hasly, and more than 1.3 million people have now signed an online petition urging the arrest of the shooter, george zimmerman. and then from the campaign trail, rick santorum telling republicans to vote for barack obama over mitt romney. how is the romney camp reacting? chris. moviegoers are ravenous for "the hunger games." fans lined up for hours of the med midnight premier of one of the most highly anticipated movies of the year. >> the movie was great.
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it was awesome. i really enjoyed it. >> nbc's mandy drury is here. fandango says tickets were flying. what, ten per second? >> that's right, chris. all thanks to undying teen devotion. fandango reports it is the third highest-selling film in the company's history. accounting for 96% of daily ticket sales and that is more than the first "twilight" movie and we know how popular that was. the popularity of "the hunger games" has also got devoted investors. lions gate, thanks to "hunger games" is up 96% per year and 156% the last two weeks. and with sales expected to top $100 million just during the first box office weekend, a sequel, as you can imagine, is already in the works for next year. >> do you have your tickets? >> no. i -- as a mother of children, i just feel it might be just a little bit too harrowing for me. >> for little ones.
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it seems there are more employers these days asking employees for the password to their facebook account. and i guess one senator is getting involved. >> yeah. a democratic senator from connecticut, richard blumenthal, is writing a bill that would stop the practice of employers asking applicants for their facebook or other social media passwor passwords. he basically says, and i think a lot of people agree, it's an unreasonable ininvacation of privacy. and he says the practice seems to be spreading which is why a federal law, a nationwide law really needs to address them. he does say he would put in an exception and that is that his bill would, for example, have exceptions for some federal and local law enforcement agencies, or even national security departments. as you can imagine as well, chris, the practice has also allowed a lot of privacy advocates whether or not it is actually legal is actually still unclear. that is, there is a gray area. but we'll see whether or not this bill gets pushed through. >> cnbc's mandy drury.
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thanks. two years ago to the day, president obama signed the health care reform act into law. mitt romney is ramping up calls to repeal it. right now he's speaking in louisiana, giving a speech built as a major attack against the president's affordable care act. joining me now is democratic congressman theodore deutsche, a florida congressman. good morning. >> good morning, how are you? >> at the heart of republican discontent is this individual mandate. and beginning on monday -- excuse me. >> i hope you're okay, chris. >> thank you. frog in my throat. i think we're going to take a break and we'll be right back. in 1966. my employees are like family. and, i want people that work for me to feel that they're sharing in my success. we purchase as much as we can on the american express open gold card. so we can accumulate as many points as possible. i pass on these points to my employees to go on trips with their families.
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i don't know what to read into the fact that i was choking while we started to talk about health care. but let me ask you about the
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heart of republican discontent, which is the individual mandate. starting on monday, the supreme court will hear challenges to the law. what do you say to republicans who say it's unconstitutional to require most people to have health insurance by 2014 or face a fine? >> well, i think that the supreme court is going to uphold the affordable care act. certainly,fq the costs to the systemfq incurred on all of us when people arefq uninsured, ge sick, go to the emergency room, those are the costs we all share already. but as -- chris, as they're having this debatefq at the supreme court, there are now 17 million young americans, 17 million kids with preexisting conditions whofq now have healt insurance who didn't fqbefore.fq 2.5 million young adults can stay onfq their parents' polici. and i'm privileged to have vice president biden coming to my district today to talk to seniors aboutfq the impact that the affordable care act has had on them. 5 million fqseniors, over 5
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milliofqn seniors, have reduced theirfq drug bills by over $3 billion as wefq started to clos the doughnut hole. 2.5 million seniors havefq take advantage offq preventative car. that's what we're going to focus on as we have this -- even as this debate plays out in the supreme court. >> is there a messaging problem? because the latest "washington post" abc news poll asked americans what the supreme court should do. and this is what it found. 26% said uphold the entire law. 25% said throw out the mandate, but keep the rest of the law. 42%, congressman, said throw out the entire law. what do you think is behind those numbers? >> well, i think that as peopleq understand what the law and particularlyfq this day, as the vice president comes to talkfq seniors in myfq district, what means for all americans. and what it means for our parents and grandparents, the contrast is going to be really clear. the vice president is going to come today to talk about the millions of seniors who have
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benefited, and the fact that the romney approach is to close -- is to reopen the donate hole, to make prescription drugs more expensive, to make it harder to get care. and he comes here on the heels offq the introduction of paul ryan's budget, the ryan/romney budget, which really seeks to end the medicarefq guarantee th seniors have come to rely upon. that's the contrast. and when people understand that contrast, they understand what's been made available tofq them, because of thefq affordable car act.fq i think it's clear what it is, that they'll want. >> do you think that the republican message, which is we can't afford this, we can't afford the affordable care act, is somehow getting through? >> well, thefq fact is, becausef the affordablefq care act, medicare is nowfq in the strongt position that it's been in decades.fqfq that we can't afford it. i think what people understand is, we can't afford to live in a country with 50 million people having no access to health care.
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and when they get sick and need health care, we all wind up paying for it. that's what the affordable care act was meantfq to address. it's finally started to level thefq playing field between consumers anfqd their insurance companies. we're getting the insurance companiesfq out of the way betwn the patient and his doctor. it's a decision that the health care ought to be made by the consumer. the insurance companies that have madefqfq it so difficult b imposing lifetime limits, preexisting conditions,fq cancelling policies when people get sick, that'sfq finally bein addressed,fq because of the affordable care act. and i think that's what people really need to understand. >> well, again, the vice president is coming into your district today, and just as an aside, because we were following you i think on twitter today. how is "the hunger games?" you went to a midnight showing, is that true? >> i did. i am a member of congress by day,fq but 24 hours a day, i am thefq father of three teenagers. >> oh, oh, oh. >> i took all of them last night with my wife and it was terrific. i'm a little tired thisfq morni,
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but it's -- it was worth it. >> the review, it's terrific. we thank you very much, congressman theodore ted deutch. today's tweet of the day comes from peggy noon an. memo to romney, suit up and get serious. now that everybody knows you're the nominee, get off the goofball express. and now down to the wire. kardashian attack. princess hoop dreams and a first speed jump. let's go. red carpet scare for kim kardashian. take a look at this photo of the starlet just moments before a woman threw white powder all over her. here's what the red carpet looked like after. fire officials checked out the powder. it is flour. prince charles proves that wheat minute can't jump. visiting a youth center in sweden, not the best form, not the best aim. stick to polo. maybe the prince could have used some help from these guys. high school students in washington state built robots that can gather up you basketballs and then shoot them. the winning teams advance to the
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national contest where they can net some big scholarships. and take a look at this. viral video of 10-year-old xeea terry contering her fear and taking her first ski jump. >> i'll be fine. i'll do it. here goes something. i guess. you can do this. >> you're fine. go. ah! yeah! just the suspense at the top first time freaks you out. woo! >> yeah, you earned that yell. mind you, we did edit the video a little bit to give you a sense of the whole thing, which was almost two minutes long. her courage earned her a meeting with members of the u.s. ski jumping team. good for her. and that wraps up this hour of "jansing & company."
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i'm chris jansing. thomas roberts is next. have a great weekend. see you monday. ♪ [ multiple sounds making melodic tune ] ♪ [ male announcer ] at northrop grumman, every innovation, every solution, comes together for a single purpose -- to make the world a safer place. that's the value of performance. northrop grumman. mcallen, texas. in here, heavy rental equipment in the middle of nowhere, is always headed somewhere. to give it a sense of direction, at&t created a mobile asset solution to protect and track everything. so every piece of equipment knows where it is, how it's doing or where it goes next. ♪ this is the bell on the cat. [ male announcer ] it's a network of possibilities -- helping you do what you do... even better. ♪
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great to have you with me today. i'm thomas roberts. on the agenda this morning, 27 days and counting since trayvon martin was killed and still no arrest. and a dramatic development within the hour. president obama, with his first remarks on this case. here's what he had to say in its entirety. >> well, i'm the head of the executive branch. and the attorney general reports to me. so i've got to be careful about my statements to make sure that we're not impairing any investigation that's taking place right now. but obviously, this is a tragedy. i can only imagine what these parents are going through. and when i think about this boy, i think about my own kids.

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